Chapter 14 - Behind the Sailboat
Ellis obtained a search authorization covering the study and its concealed storage. I wasn't allowed inside during the operation, and for once I was grateful. I sat in a parked car with Monica while investigators carried boxes down the steps of the house where I'd lived for five years.
They found the safe behind the sailboat painting. Its code matched Mom's death date. Inside were contracts, an old cassette tape, a company seal, and a photograph of Mom holding a baby wrapped in a yellow blanket.
“That baby is me,” I whispered when Ellis later showed us a scanned copy.
On the back Mom had written: No matter how hard they try, she will know where she comes from.
Dad stared at the photograph for a long time. “She kept that hidden from me.”
“Or Walter took it,” I said.
The cassette was transferred for forensic review. The first audible voice belonged to Walter, seventeen years younger. “The camera logs have to disappear before the insurance inspector arrives.”
Another man answered, “And Robert?”
“Let him think his system failed. He's proud. Pride will do the work for us.”
Dad put both palms flat on the table. He hadn't heard an apology. He'd heard proof that the guilt he'd carried for seventeen years had been deliberately planted.
Monica studied the contracts. One described a family trust, fully executed, naming me as a beneficiary and establishing conditions that prevented Walter from removing certain assets without independent approval. The trust wasn't an instant fortune waiting in a drawer; years of transactions would need to be traced, challenged, and litigated. But the document meant Mom had been right.
Ellis called as we left. “We have a witness willing to testify about the fake invoices.”
“Nora?”
“Preston Keene. He walked into the station an hour ago.”
“Why now?”
“He says Walter ordered him to burn the greenhouse. He refused. Someone else set it on fire.”
May you like
Then Ellis lowered her voice. “Preston claims Walter has another plan. He's preparing to leave the country tonight, and he's taking the original trust registry with him.”
